Archive for the 'Bobby Thomson' Tag Under 'Angels' Category

SCP Auctions of Laguna Niguel is putting a unique piece of baseball lore up for sale: The cap Bobby Thomson was wearing when he hit his "Shot Heard 'Round the World" homer that carried the New York Giants past the Brooklyn Dodgers for the NL pennant on Oct. 3, 1951.

In a press release, SCP says the hat could go for six figures; we assume they mean somewhere around $100,000 and not $999,000. The item and many others will go on the block in online bidding that begins April 30 and runs through May 19. If you're in the 1 percent and want to buy something, register at www.scpauctions.com.

So how did the cap come to be disengaged from its owner''s head? As Kevin Kaduk of Yahoo's Big League Stew writes, that story began soon after Thomson connected for the most famous homer in baseball history. With the Giants trailing 4-2 in the bottom of the ninth in the third game of a playoff to decide the NL flag, Thomson crushed a pitch from the Dodgers' Ralph Branca over the left-field wall at the Polo Grounds for a three-run homer, sending the Giants to the World Series.

Thomson was mobbed by his teammates at home plate, and several fans ran onto the field. One of them was Bernard "Bus" Davies, a 52-year-old who owned a fabric design store in Manhattan. Davies was a 27-year-long season-ticket-holder and thus had field-box seats. He was one of the first fans to reach the jubilant mob behind home plate, and in the excitement he plucked the cap right off Thomson's dome.